RVAR disabled access (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: On the 27th December 2019 the Department for Transport published a statement exempting the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly, Waterloo and City Line from the Rail Vehicle Access Regulations. I understand that the Department for Transport set the overall policy on accessibility across all transport modes, including the target for all rail vehicles to be accessible by no later than 1 January 2020 unless appropriate exemptions were in place.
Please state whether you agreed with these exemptions to disabled access being granted to such extensive sections of London’s public transport?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has invested significantly in recent years to make more than two-thirds of its trains fully accessible and more than 200 Tube and rail stations step-free. It is also investing to upgrade its remaining trains to meet these standards as far as possible. Refurbishment and life extension works are already underway on the Bakerloo line and Central line trains, with the first refurbished trains entering service over the course of 2020. Waterloo & City line trains will also form part of this work, with refurbished trains entering service on that line before the end of 2024. Once refurbished, the trains will comply with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) Regulation (RVAR) 2010 as far as is economically and technically viable.
The exemptions that the Department for Transport has granted fall into two types. The first contains exemptions according to viability, as they do not deliver sufficient customer benefits for the cost of applying those changes or are not technically possible to deliver. These areas can only be addressed in a cost-effective manner by replacing the trains in full.
The others are time-limited exemptions related to changes which will be implemented over the coming years. TfL must now embark on the next phase of investment to continue the upgrade of the Tube, to make the network more accessible while also maximising the capacity, efficiency and connectivity of this vital asset. In addition to the contract for 94 new and accessible Piccadilly line trains and 43 new trains on the DLR, it remains TfL’s intention to replace trains on the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines as well, bringing them in line with modern standards. However, this can only proceed once certainty of long-term steady and sustained funding is confirmed by the Government.

Proportion of Londoners living near cycle routes

Caroline Russell: The target in your Transport Strategy is for 70 per cent of Londoners to live within 400 metres of a high-quality cycle route by 2041. Can you show, by borough, what proportion of Londoners are currently living within 400 metres of a high-quality cycle route?

The Mayor: Transport for London is in the process of collecting this information, and expects it to be available in February. This answer will be updated when the information is collated.

RVAR disabled access (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: On the 27th December 2019 the Department for Transport published a statement exempting the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly, Waterloo and City Line from the Rail Vehicle Access Regulations. Please set out how you and Transport for London were consulted before these decisions were made.
What steps did you specifically take in responding to the Department for Transport in terms of correspondence or seeking meetings with relevant ministers?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) Commissioner, Mike Brown, has corresponded extensively with Ministers, discussing Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) Regulation 2010 compliance and explaining the rationale for the dates. This follows collaborative work between TfL and the Department for Transport, to agree practical ways to deliver compliance. It was decided that time-limited exemptions would allow for works to be incorporated into major overhauls, so that TfL could deliver improvements in the most efficient and least disruptive way.

Police recruit residency requirements (2)

Siân Berry: Residency requirements for new police officer recruits were lifted temporarily at the end of 2018. What proportion of new officers who have been recruited since then would have met the requirement for London residency and what proportion would not? Could you provide the totals for each group during the period to date when the requirement was not in place, and the total number (from each group if any exceptions were made) recruited in the same time period prior to the lifting of the restrictions? Could you also give this data for each month since the lifting of the requirements and the same number of months before, if this is available?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not hold this specific level of detail. The original restriction was for applicants to have lived in London for three of the last six years. Since the restriction was lifted the MPS has not recorded historical applicant addresses.
The MPS is monitoring the impact of removing the residency restriction through the percentage of registrations that come from people currently living in London and those who subsequently pass selection and join. The MPS is also closely monitoring the diversity of applicants and recruits.

Task and Finish Report

Keith Prince: The Government has stated, in its response to the Task and Finish report, that “it does not intend to remove the ability of licensing authorities to set their own local standards in matters not covered by the national minimum standards, or above and beyond those minimum standards”. Why is there a need for alignment in relation to the Mayor’s response to question 2019/17459?

The Mayor: The Government published a consultation on statutory guidance for national minimum standards last year which relates to some of the proposals put forward in Transport for London’s (TfL) ‘Improving Safety in PHVs’ consultation. The Government’s consultation ended in April 2019 and no outcomes have yet been provided.
While the Government has said it doesn’t intend to remove the ability for licensing authorities to set their own local standards, it is still sensible to understand the scope of items being considered for national minimum standards to ensure they are aligned as far as possible throughout the country. This helps to provide passengers with clear and consistent safety messages about private hire vehicles. Given the significant time that has passed since the Government’s consultation and TfL’s own Improving Safety in PHVs consultation, TfL is now considering whether some elements of proposed regulatory change that weren’t covered in the Government consultation, can be progressed separately.

Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations

Caroline Pidgeon: I understand that London Underground has made a request to the Department for Transport for an exemption under the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR) to permanently remove ‘next station’ on train passenger announcements, when trains are stationary at stations, with the request covering the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly and Waterloo & City lines. What are the grounds for such a request being made and what consultation, if any, was undertaken by TfL with disability groups before making this request to the Department?

The Mayor: Having consulted with Transport for London (TfL), I have established that announcements are not being removed from any trains.
Currently, TfL provides important safety, interchange and service status messaging whilst trains are stationary in stations. This means there is insufficient time to also provide a ‘next station’ message. Instead, TfL broadcasts ‘next station’ messaging on trains whilst travelling between stations.
As this is not fully in line with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (RVAR), an exemption request, granted by the Department for Transport (DfT), has to be made in order to continue providing vital safety messages.
The exemption request ensures that TfL can continue to operate legally past the 2020 RVAR deadline in what TfL believes is the most efficient manner.
On the Waterloo & City line the next station and destination are the same because there are only two stations. The exemption would allow for the information not to be repeated whilst the train is stationary. The name of the next station/destination is also broadcast after the train has departed.
TfL has been working with the DfT since RVAR was introduced to ensure the most appropriate alignment for a metro style railway environment and operation. This exemption request provides consistency across all London Underground passenger fleets.
Public consultation by the DfT, including with disability groups, has taken place for each request for exemption, most recently in 2018.

Specials (2)

Tony Devenish: Do you think Police Specials are utilised as effectively as other Police Forces within the Met ? Are there lessons to learn from other forces such as the City of London Police?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is always willing to learn from other forces, including the City of London Police. The MPS also engages with the College of Policing (CoP) and National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) with regards to special constable national strategy.
The MPS holds an internal strategic board on special constables where policy is determined as to how they can be supported, encouraged and effectively utilised for the benefit of the MPS and wider public.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Notices

Unmesh Desai: Can you provide the number of i) Domestic Violence Protection Orders and ii) Domestic Violence Protection Notices issued in each London borough in each year from 2014 to 2019?

The Mayor: Please see attached a spreadsheet containing the requested data for the period specified.
The volume of DVPOs has increased across all areas due to a concerted effort by the MPS for these orders to be utilised more widely.

Clare’s Law

Unmesh Desai: How many applications under the ‘right to ask’ element of Clare’s Law have been made to the Met in each year from 2014 to 2019?

The Mayor: Please see attached spreadsheet containing the requested data for the period specified. It should be noted that 2019 data is up until the end of November.
The large increase that can be seen in 2019 is due to the ability to make requests for information under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme through an online application. This was introduced in 2019, and has therefore made it easier to make these requests.

Noise Pollution and Ash Grove Bus Depot

Jennette Arnold: My constituents report significant overnight noise caused by vehicles and staff at Ash Grove Bus Depot. Please list the steps TfL will be taking to ensure that it is a good neighbour and reduces this disturbance.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and its bus operators have put preventive measures in place at Ash Grove Bus Depot to limit this nuisance as much as possible and are fully aware of the sensitivities of this location. This includes regular meetings with flat residents, adding notices about noise to driver duty cards, instructions to switch off engines when vehicles are stationary, changing the run-in of buses from the front to back gates to reduce congestion and following a revised procedure to minimise disruption when refuelling vehicles safely at night.
TfL carried out night visits to assess residents’ concerns and continues to work with the operators to reduce impacts as far as possible. Engine noise has reduced with the introduction of quieter hybrid buses, and this positive development should continue as lower and zero-emission vehicles progressively join the fleet.

Electric Vehicle Noise

Florence Eshalomi: A law requiring manufacturers to install an acoustic sound system in new types of quiet electric and hybrid electric vehicles came into force on 1st July 2019. Can you provide details of how many incidents involved electric vehicles and, of those, how many related to other road users not hearing the electric vehicle? Please provide details for the last year.

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) bus network incident recording system is not able to filter how many collisions arise from road users not hearing the approach of quiet-running buses. This is because the system records data at the time of the incident, not much later when an investigation clarifies the circumstances.
All serious incidents are investigated by TfL’s bus operators and any such incidents are discussed in assurance meetings with TfL. TfL does consider a lack of noise as part of these investigations. To date, no evidence has been found in any investigation indicating that a pedestrian mistakenly acted in the belief that the road was clear due to a lack of noise from an approaching bus.
Personal injury road traffic collisions that occur on the public highway are reported to or by the police in accordance with the Department for Transport (DfT) national reporting instructions using a system called STATS19. Information on the involvement of electric vehicles in road traffic collisions is not currently reported under these instructions. However, TfL is lobbying the DfT to separately categorise electric vehicles given their increasing use.
Acoustic Vehicle Alert Systems (AVAS) offer an opportunity to enhance safety and road user awareness. TfL is exploring this as part of its Bus Safety Standard. This work will contribute towards my Vision Zero goal of no-one being killed or seriously injured on or by a bus by 2030. TfL started a six-month AVAS trial on route 100, which runs between St Paul’s and Shadwell, in January 2020 and other routes will feature the sound in the coming months. Feedback from road users, residents, passengers and drivers across all routes will be collected during the trial to help develop the most effective system for all road users.

Youth Violence in Enfield & Haringey

Joanne McCartney: Can you please update me as to any additional resources, such as officers from the Violent Crime Taskforce, that have been provided to North BCU (Enfield and Haringey) over the past six months to deal with youth violence?

The Mayor: Over the last six months Enfield and Haringey have seen a significant allocation of additional resources into the local area as part of the effort to tackle violent crime.
Officers from the Violent Crime Taskforce have been patrolling crime hotspots in both uniform and plain clothes. Enfield and Haringey have also received additional support from Roads and Transport Policing, Firearms Command and Mounted Branch.
These additional resources compliment the work of local officers, deploying to crime hotspots and utilising intelligence to target the most harmful and dangerous offenders.
These additional resources are having a positive impact. Over the last six months, the area has seen a decline in the number of offences relating to Violence Against the Person and Violence with Injury.

Digital forensics (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please state the current average timescales for investigations using (a) the central digital forensics function and (b) Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE).

The Mayor: The average length of an online investigation for BCU investigation of OCSAE is an average of 185 days for an NFA and 465 days for a positive outcome. For the Central Specialist Crime OCSAE investigation, it is 243 days for an NFA and 379 days for a positive outcome.
Examples of why some exhibits take longer than others are; a long-protracted investigation, complex exhibits with large amounts of information to review, research and development to allow the MPS to examine the exhibit, finite specialist resources and no current solution.